Free Republic

Bill Maher may have made his cruelest and most ill-informed comment yet -- and that says a lot, given his track record -- on his HBO show Friday night. Maher, during a discussion of the economy under Donald Trump, acknowledged that it was "going pretty well." Then Maher, the sometime liberal, shared his hope that the economy would tank to hurt Trump politically: "I feel like the bottom has to fall out at some point. And by the way, I'm hoping for it. I think one (way) you get rid of Trump is a crashing economy." He then jaw-droppingly added,...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), anxious to build on the momentum set in motion by his earlier assertion that “America was never that great,” demanded a better measure of the nation's economic health. “I know that the Trump Administration is touting last quarter's 4.2% rise in GDP as a sign that the economy is booming,” the Governor observed. “But is this really the best measure we can come up with? GDP growth never got as high as 3% during the Obama Administration. But can we really say that Americans weren't better off then?” “The problem with GDP is that it is...

Our families will thrive. Our people will prosper. And our nation will forever be safe and strong and proud and mighty and free. President Donald J. Trump 500 DAYS: In his first 500 days in office, President Donald J. Trump has achieved results domestically and internationally for the American people. Since taking office, President Trump has strengthened American leadership, security, prosperity, and accountability. After 500 days, the results are clear: the American economy is stronger, American workers are experiencing more opportunities, confidence is soaring, and business is booming. President Trump has re-asserted American leadership on the world stage, secured vital...

U.S. President Donald Trump will fail in his confrontation with Iran, just like Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Iranian President Hassan Rohani said on Saturday, referring to the war between the two Middle Eastern powers and vowing that Tehran will not abandon its missiles. Tensions have ramped up between Iran and the United States after Trump withdrew from a landmark multilateral nuclear deal in May and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic last month.

President Trump announced this week he would levy 10 percent tariffs on some $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. The tariff is scheduled to take effect on September 24, and is slated to increase to 25 percent by year’s end. Of course, China pledged to retaliate with tariffs of “equal scale and equal strength.” This has some American exporters worried. After all, China is the fourth-largest buyer of American goods. Even more important to these exporters, the Middle Kingdom is the world’s largest untapped consumer market. China is El Dorado—were it only open for business. GOP bigwigs agree, and are...

As of July 2015, the USA's annual trade deficit of $803B was more then the next 14 largest debtor nations combined!

If you like what you’ve seen Democrats do in the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, you’re going to love what they do if they win the 2018 midterm elections. They began by trying to prevent the hearings from taking place at all, interrupting repeatedly and demanding votes on frivolous points of order. Then they praised the left-wing radical “protesters” who disrupted proceedings. Then they broke the rules and released confidential information. Now, they want Kavanaugh to face a Kafkaesque show trial. The Democrats are doing their worst because a Supreme Court seat is at stake, and their base will accept nothing less....

More than 6-in-10 midterm voters support President Trump’s tariffs on imports, designed to protect American jobs and industry while forcing multinational corporations to bring manufacturing back to the United States. Just as Trump has imposed an additional $200 billion worth of tariffs on foreign products imported from China, about 63 percent of midterm voters said they either support the protective tariffs or would like to give them more time to work. The poll — conducted for the Alliance for American Manufacturing by The Mellman Group, Inc. and Public Opinion Strategies — found overwhelming support for Trump’s economic nationalist agenda among...

Photos posted online from Las Vegas show a massive turnout for President’s Trump’s campaign rally being held Thursday night at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The half-mile-plus lines in the 95 degree heat are reminiscent of the huge crowds that turned out in 2015-2016 for Trump’s presidential campaign rallies. The Washington Post’s Ashley Parker reported on the enthusiasm of the Trump supporters, “Some brief anecdotal scene from the Trump rally here in Las Vegas: One woman drove in from San Diego. Another drove 16 hours from Elk City, Idaho. A man and his son flew down from Washington State. And...

President Donald Trump showed he's willing to wield a big stick in trade by levying tariffs on $200 billion more in Chinese goods, starting next week. Will this lead to a trade war without end, or bring China to the table for talks? We've been on the record as being anti-tariff. However, as has been noted numerous times, Trump has used tariffs, and the threat of tariffs, as a way to lower overall trade barriers. At least, that's what the White House maintains, and we see no reason not to believe it. But it goes deeper than that. As the...

BEIJING – China on Tuesday announced a tariff increase on $60 billion of U.S. products in response to President Donald Trump’s latest duty increase in a dispute over Beijing’s technology policy. The announcement followed a warning by an American business group that a “downward spiral” in their conflict appeared certain following Trump’s penalties on $200 billion of Chinese goods. The Finance Ministry said it was going ahead with plans announced in August for the increases of 10 percent and 5 percent on 5,207 types of U.S. goods. A list released last month included coffee, honey and industrial chemicals. Please see...

President Trump in an exclusive interview with Hill.TV said Tuesday he ordered the release of classified documents in the Russia collusion case to show the public the FBI probe started as a “hoax,” and that exposing it could become one of the “crowning achievements” of his presidency. “What we’ve done is a great service to the country, really,” Trump said in a 45-minute, wide-ranging interview in the Oval Office. “I hope to be able to call this, along with tax cuts and regulation and all the things I’ve done… in its own way this might be the most important thing...

The United States' commitment to global development does not look good compared with that of other wealthy countries — and it's likely to get worse. According to an annual index released Tuesday by the Center for Global Development that ranks 27 of the world's wealthiest countries, the U.S. scored dead last on foreign aid contributions and quality — despite being the largest donor in dollar amount. That's because in 2017, it allocated a mere 0.18 percent of its gross national income for development assistance. That is well short of the 0.7 percent that wealthy countries have committed to strive for...

President Trump just took the latest escalatory move in a trade war the United States and China are vigorously waging as either a proxy for a shooting war, or a run-up to one. The outcome of the trade confrontation, and the lessons it teaches, will greatly influence the likelihood of actual conflict in the future. It is essential that we win this one in order to deter a real one. The psychological dynamics at play in the trade dispute are the same as would apply in a kinetic conflict. As important as the parties’ actual strengths and vulnerabilities are their...

There were times during a Thursday rally Barack Obama couldn’t help but talk about himself, even though he was supposed to be talking about other people. There were other times he could barely talk at all. During the Cleveland rally for Rich Cordray and Betty Sutton, Obama repeatedly talked about himself, despite the candidates sitting behind him. Several times, he stuttered as he attempted to attack President Trump and the success of recent Republican initiatives.

President Trump is expected to speak at what the White House is describing as the inaugural meeting of the President's National Council for the American Worker on Monday. The president praised the efforts of first responders after Hurricane Florence lashed out at the East Coast. "Will not rest until that job is done and done perfectly," the president said, according to the White House press pool. "... It's a very dangerous situation. You have collapses. You have slides. Its very scary." The council was formed to develop a national workforce strategy to help students and workers have access to the...

“It will be a lot of money coming into the coffers of the United States of America," Trump said of the tariffs. "A lot of money coming in, but you’ll be seeing what we’re doing right after close of business today." Trump made the announcement to reporters in the Roosevelt Room. The administration has repeatedly said the tariffs are needed to address China's policies, which it claims are predatory and cannot be tolerated. "We can't do that anymore," Trump told reporters. Trump has already enacted tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods and has threatened tariffs on a further $200...

Let’s take Donald Trump both seriously and literally. When he says he wants to abolish all trade barriers, let’s assume he means it. Back in June, the President stunned his fellow heads of government at the Quebec G7 summit by telling them: “No tariffs, no barriers, that's the way it should be. And no subsides.” A world where all such distortions were removed from markets would indeed be vastly wealthier. We would all benefit, especially people on low incomes, who would gain the most from a fall in prices. Pretty much every mainstream economist, from both ends of the political...

Mid Continent Nail Corporation says it could shutter its Poplar Bluff plant, which employs about 335 workers, as early as this month without an exemption to tariffs, the site’s operations general manager, Chris Pratt, told reporters in early September. The company previously had said that it might not survive through Labor Day but stayed open. After Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on imported steel, the company in June cut 60 of 500 positions at the plant in rural Butler County, where the unemployment rate is above the national average and the company is the area’s second-largest employer. Pratt said...

Chinese power is expanding. Chinese claims to the South China Sea are not going to go away in a hurry. At the moment, American power represents a restraint on Chinese expansion. It is not clear how that will hold into the future. In his landmark foreign policy speech in April 2016 candidate Trump said, “……our resources are totally over extended. ……. the U.S. must be prepared to let these (European and Asian) countries defend themselves. We have no choice.” My unique country, Australia, a predominantly European nation on the edge of Asia, does have very deep emotional, cultural and historical...